No going back on Railway Divisional HQ for Gulbarga, says Sadananda Gowda

गुलबर्गा Gulbarga (GR): Railway Minister D.V.Sadananda Gowda has clarified that there is no going back on the commitment made by the previous UPA government on establishing the Divisional Headquarters of the South Western Railways (SWR) in Gulbarga. Necessary funds would be provided once the Railway Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) comes out with the Detailed Project Report (DPR) with the estimated cost, he said.

“I want to make it clear once and for all the Divisional Headquarters in Gulbarga is here to stay.I will come to Gulbarga after a month to review the progress of several railway works taken up during my predecessor Mallikarjun Kharge and also bring the RVNL officials to finalise the proposal for taking up the construction work of the divisional headquarters,” he said.

Addressing a press conference in Gulbarga after inaugurating the new wing of S. Nijalingappa Institute of Dental Sciences and Research here on Wednesday, Mr. Gowda said a sum of Rs. 5 crore has been released to RVNL already. “Mr. Kharge has spoken to me on the need to allocate more funds for the works of the divisional headquarters. I have assured him the Railways was committed to provide the required funds to the project”.

On the directions of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Railway Ministry to prepare a detailed report on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Railways, Mr. Gowda said that already the note issued by the Commerce Ministry in this regard was discussed in the cabinet and the areas where the FDI would be allowed has also been finalised. He said many countries including china, Japan, France and others expressed their keen interest in investing in the Railways.

However, Mr. Gowda was categorical in limiting the FDI to the infrastructure development of the Railways. It would not be extended to operational area of the Railways, he said.

Mr. Gowda said that he had once again pleaded with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to meet the commitment made on the cost sharing projects so as to complete them at the earliest.

The State government had earlier its inability to fund these projects.